As I have reported before I just returned from a trip visiting PCa patients in England and France. In France it was just George Orick. I would like to report on my fascinating visit with George in his home in southern France between Nice and Marseilles and inland a little.

The Arrival

The approach in the airplane was one of the most beautiful approaches I have ever seen. Flying out over the water along the French Riviera and looking at the beaches, towns and homes was breath taking.

When I finally landed and got through customs (I was last in line) I walked out and saw a large framed elderly man leaning up against a wall. He had unruly white hair and was dressed in very comfortable clothes. I assumed that it must be George - it was! We introduced ourselves and headed out of the airport and I was immediately at ease with this gentle man.

We climbed into his rather ancient small car that he had to fold himself into. He apologized for his old car but said that it had been his for a while and had certain memories in it. The car was fine - the engine purred as we took off for the 1½ hour drive to his home located up into the mountains.

Who is George Orick

First let me digress for a little to tell who George is and how I and many others on the Circle came to know him. George was diagnosed with PCa and in looking for information he stumbled across the mailing lists and his education began - as did ours. If I recall correctly he had a PSA of 15 and seminal vesicle involvement and extracapsular penetration. During this time he was both in France and in Jakarta so getting treatment was somewhat of a problem. After finding a doctor in Marseilles he settled down to a decision of IHB without Proscar. His PSA dropped rapidily and at the end of 6 months on therapy, his PSA was undetectable the doctor took him off of IHB. He stayed off for a total of 14 months. By that time his PSA had risen to 6 and he went back on minus the Lupron and adding Proscar. At the time I was there he had been on for two months and his PSA was on its way down again. He expects to go off again in a total of 6 months.

All of us got to know George for his posts to the Circle and other mailing list when he was a member. At this point he is only on the Circle and PHML. We remember his stories of the unrest in Indonesia while he was there and he was giving us reports every few days. Beautiful writing, clear and to the point. I think we were all impressed and figured that we had someone of exceptional writing quality among us Circle members.

Back to the present!

As we traveled along the highways, byways and dirt roads to his home, I begin to get a picture of this man. He had just come back from Jakarta where he was visiting his beloved Gigi, but he came back with a bad case of poisoning. It would seem that a guest in Gigi's house, who did not like George, may have poured some tap water in their drinking water jugs. George took a gulp before the bad smell of the water reached his nose but the damage was done. As you all can imagine the next few days were pure hell for him and this was the time he was traveling from Jakarta to France. When I arrived he was just beginning to get around. Each day I could see an improvement in his health and when I left he was in pretty good shape. The lady involved had stated to someone there that "I hope he dies soon". She is no longer a guest!

But this was only the latest chapter in a life filled by many adventures. Let me just tell a few of them.

He Builds Anything

George is a very handy man and a good part of his life was going to different places in the world to build things. As he said he didn't know how he was going to accomplish these things when he started but he was a fast learner, clear thinker and used a lot of common sense. He met and married a stunningly beautiful women who was a mixture of races of Asian, Caucasian, Indian (American) and African. They had three children. As his travels took him to other countries he was gone from the family more than one would want to be gone but, like many, it was a part of his life.

The Savior of Small Children

During his travels he became known as the man who could get things done and he showed it here better than anything else he had done. In the country of Nigeria in Africa there was a tribe called the Ibos. These were a tribe of black people who put education above all. They were industrious, Christian people who wanted to establish their small part of Nigeria as a separate country so they could get out from under the rule of the predominate Muslin people. They seceded and called their country Biafra. A civil war ensued as the Nigerians did not like the idea of taking part of their country and its oil into a separate nation let by the Christians. A holy war was started.

The overwhelming strength of the Nigerians was evident at the beginning and the war was expected to be short, However the determination of the founders of Biafra was much stronger than any could imagine.

In the meantime the children of the Ibos were being denied food as the Nigerians clamped down on shipments of food. Their belief was that the only good Ibo was a dead one and they didn't care if it was men, women or children. Because of the world politics, aid was not forthcoming from any quarter that would feed the millions of children that were beginning to starve.

Enter George Orick!

George saw what was happening and deduced that these children needed proteins in order to survive so he and others of like mind began almost a clandestine movement to join organizations of caring churches and people to get thousands of tons of food to the starving children. George got Unicef and the Catholic Relief Services and Church World Service and the American Jewish Committee into an informal consortium which resulted in the formation of an airlift. These groups and others located airplanes and pilots. Their airlift flew from an island south of Biafra under cover of night and landed in Biafra on a widened stretch of asphalt road lighted with kerosine pots. Every trip was dangerous! It was a war zone! But he and the others put it together, got it operating and fed millions of the children of Biafra. Although the people fighting for their independence of Biafra finally lost the war - children lived who had been doomed to death by the inability of many nations to act but were saved by this ad hoc group bringing the food to them. Those children of the Ibos who survived the war are now adults and several million of them owe their life to a man called George and his associates.

The News Writer

Finally he landed a writing job at NBC. Due to some very typical personality clashes he found that he was not happy there and moved to ABC in their news . Here he wrote for many of the great news people that we see today still on TV. Evening news, 20/20, etc., etc. He was close to many of the greats and has stories to tell about all of them. During this period in his life he and his wife would take vacations in the south of France. Here they learned to love the area, the pace of life and the people. They made a decision that when he retired they would move to this area. And so their plans were set.

The Move To France

They began to shop for a home and found an old place that has stones laid in the foundation that were of the Roman style of 1000 years ago. Located on the side of a hill overlooking a valley, it was three stories with walls of stone about 36 inches thick. The first story was to become the kitchen, living room and dining room. The second story had the master bedroom, another small room and a bath. On the third floor there is a combination bedroom and study. All of the floors are covered with tiles. Around the front of the house wraps a large patio and outside the front door is a small area holding a table and chairs so one can sit our and gaze over the valley below in peaceful bliss.

There seemed to be three parts of this old home that were probably built anywhere from 200 to 700 years ago. It had not been lived in for 35 years. Immediately they had to hire an architect to rebuild part of the inside of the house to bring it up to the standards of what they wanted to live in. The construction was a labor of love for both of them. Following retirement they moved into this newly remodeled old home.

Not too long after moving in George was offered a contract by the UN to go to Jakarta to film and write a story about the activities of a group there in trying to educate the people there to help them find employment and to create jobs for their people. While he was there he received a phone call that his wife had just died. She was found one day where she collapsed to the floor from a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Their idealized dream had come to an abrupt end.

The Aftermath

George went home to arrange for and to decide what to do with his lovely wife. As she had loved France so much he decided that she should remain at the site. She was cremated and he and his children scattered her ashes over the 13 acres of land that she loved so well. Here she would forever remain as part of the land and part of every growing thing. Here as George moved through his property he could hear her in the rustling of the leaves, the soft music of the wind blowing around the home she loved so much, the sound of wings of the many birds that enjoyed the plentiful bounty of available foods. Her remains had given life to many other things. One of the reasons he won't sell his old car is that a pinch of his wife's ashes is under the floor mat on the passenger side of the front seat.

At this time he discovered that he had the big "C", prostate cancer. This, to add to his other problems was almost more than one lonely man cold endure. But he did as life went on.

Through the many French friends he had met around his home he managed to survive on a day by day basis as he attempted to put his life back together. On a trip to Armenia for the UN, Aremenian friends took him high into the mountains to a secluded little church in which they wanted him to light a candle of closure for his dearly departed wife. This was the freeing of his grief to a point that he could once again wonder if their was someone out there who he could love again and who would love this old man, and there was.

After the death of his wife he was once again called to Jakarta to do some work. Here as he went about his business he met a young lady who had been raised in the Philippines but was in Jakarta as an employee of the UN to help the people of Indonesia. He learned to enjoy her company and learned that she was seeking a divorce and was the mother of four children.

To say he fell in love might be not quite right as he was still grieving for his wife, but to say he was smitten with this lady would be more correct. When he returned home he thought of her often but was not able to bring himself around to the word love just yet. Then the trip up the mountain in Armenia and the lighting of the candle released the grief and allowed his mind to look forward to his life of tomorrow. Here he saw this lady that he now wanted to be a part of his life. He faxed Gigi and proposed marriage to her and she accepted.

Now he is in France waiting for Gigi to join him around the first of the new year to start a new life with the one he loves. At 75 years old, prostate cancer under control, living in a spectacularly beautiful area his life goes on as he is writing his memoir and hopes to publish it someday. In addition he hopes to write a story of the feeding of the children of Biafra and thinks that there are many of those survivors would like to have the story that saved their lives.

When his memoir is completed and published, I will be the first in line to get my copy.

NOTE from Don Cooley:  Unfortunately George never completed his memoir before his death from prostate cancer.

Don